PRINT-COLLECTORS’  BOOKLETS 

FITZROY  CARRINGTON,  Editor 

CHARLES  JACQUE 

(1813-1894) 

BY 


ROBERT  J.  WICKENDEN 

Author  of  "Jean-Fran$ois  Millet,”  “Le  Pere  Corot,”  “The  Men  of  1830,” 
“ Charles-Francois  Daubigny,”  etc.,  etc. 


PUBLISHED  FOR 

MUSEUM  OF  FINE  ARTS  BOSTON 

BY 

HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 
4 Park  Street,  Boston  16  E.  40th  St.,  New  York 


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CHARLES  JACQUE 


BY 

ROBERT  J.  WICKENDEN 

Author  of  “Jean-Frcnicois  Millet “Le  Pkre  Corot,"  “ 
Men  of  1830,”  “ Charles-Francois  Daubigny,” 
etc.,  etc. 


PUBLISHED  FOR 

MUSEUM  OF  FINE  ARTS  BOSTON 
BY  HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 
1914 


The 


Copyright,  1912,  by 
Frederick  Keppel  & Co, 

All  rights  reserved 


6 haded  ofaccjue 


{i8i3—i8c)4t 


Charles  Jacque 


2 


Paysage;  Hiver.  (Guiffrey  No.  50) 


CHARLES  JACQUE 

(1813-1894) 

By  ROBERT  J.  WICKENDEN 

8 JACQUE  might  be  called  “the 
ible  Crichton”  of  the  Barbizon 
for,  in  addition  to  his  mastery  of 
and  painting,  he  had  been  a 
notary’s  clerk,  a map-engraver,  a soldier,  an  illus- 
trator of  comic  papers  and  serious  books,  a chicken- 
fancier  and  author  of  one  of  the  best  manuals  on  the 
subject;  while  later  at  Croisic  in  Brittany  he  manu- 
factured excellent  specimens  of  carved  Gothic  furni- 
ture. To  crown  all,  after  succeeding  more  or  less  in 
these  and  other  enterprises,  he  ended  his  life  in  com- 
fortable bourgeois  fashion,  as  proprietaire  of  the  fine 
apartment  building  on  the  Boulevard  Clichy,  where 
he  had  his  last  studio. 

Yet  whatever  his  active  brain  and  hand  found  to 
do,  he  was  above  all  an  artist, — and  one  of  the  most 


3 


remarkable  in  the  French  school  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  very  breadth  and  variety  of  his  talents 
may  have  obscured  to  a certain  degree  the  luster  of 
his  special  achievements.  But  this  may  be  safely  left 
for  time  to  rectify,  and  out  of  the  immense  quantity 
of  work  he  accomplished,  enough  will  be  selected  to 
give  him  the  supreme  place  he  deserves  as  an  etcher 
and  painter  of  rustic  and  pastoral  subjects. 

Jacque  was  a true  enfant  de  Paris , having  been 
born  there  on  the  23d  of  May,  1813,  not  far  from  the 
Hotel  des  Invalides.  His  school  life  was  not  marked 
by  any  special  brilliance,  nor  did  he  stay  long  at  col- 
lege. His  earliest  manifestation  of  talent  was  shown 
in  copies  made  from  some  lithographed  landscapes  by 
Coigniet,  but  this  did  not  prevent  his  father  from 
placing  him  in  a notary’s  office.  The  family  lived  at 
this  time  in  the  Passage  St.  Antoine,  and  there  he 
made  the  acquaintance  of  a young  decorator  of  por- 
celain, Louis  Cabat,  who  was  afterward  celebrated  as 
a landscape  painter,  and  became  Director  of  the 
French  School  in  the  Villa  Medicis  at  Rome.  Cabat 
initiated  his  young  friend  into  the  greater  world  of 
art,  and  Jacque,  who  had  in  the  meantime  left  the 
notary’s  office,  to  work  for  an  engraver  of  maps,  soon 
tried  his  ’prentice  hand  on  an  etching  of  a woman’s 
head  after  Rembrandt,  of  which  an  example  still 
exists  in  the  splendid  collection  of  Jacque ’s  etchings 
presented  by  the  late  Samuel  P.  Avery  to  the  New 
York  Public  Library.  But  whether  from  pure  love 
of  adventure  or  martial  tastes,  after  the  revolution  of 
1830  Jacque  entered  the  Fifty-second  Regiment  of 
Infantry  of  the  Line,  where  he  remained  five  years, 
assisting  at  the  siege  of  Antwerp  and  subsequent  oper- 


4 


Paysage;  Personnages.  (Guiffrey  No.  117) 
Size  of  the  original  etching,  3%  X 4%  inches 


Paysage;  Troupeau  de  Cochons.  (Guiffrey  No.  62) 
Size  of  the  original  etching,  4%  X 7 y&  inches 


5 


Paysage;  Saules.  (Guiffrey  No.  113) 
Size  of  the  original  etching,  2 y2  X 4*4  inches 


Paysage  ex  Animaux.  (Guiffrey  No.  82) 
Size  of  the  original  etching,  2%  X 4%  inches 


6 


ations.  It  was  here  he  met  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  who 
was  struck  by  his  native  wit,  and  Jacque’s  regimental 
duties  were  somewhat  lightened  through  his  ability  in 
drawing,  of  which  his  superior  officers  often  availed 
themselves. 

His  character  sketches  were  in  great  demand,  and 
after  leaving  the  regiment  he  composed  an  odyssey  of 
the  soldier’s  life,  entitled  “Militariana,  and  the  His- 
tory of  de  la  Ramee,  ex-fusilier  of  the  French  army, 
from  his  entry  into  the  service  and  before,  till  his 
death  and  after,  related  and  drawn  by  Charles  Jacque, 
ex-corporal  of  the  Fifty-second  of  the  Line.”  This 
ample  title  suggests  the  witty  nature  of  the  caricature 
which  was  published  by  Aubert  in  the  Musee  Philipon 
and  is  now  very  difficult  to  find.  While  a soldier  he  al- 
ready had  begun  his  career  as  an  illustrator,  working 
for  Henriot,  and  afterward  for  Best,  in  the  Magasin 
Pittoresque. 

Freed  from  military  service  in  1836,  he  was 
called  to  England,  where  he  worked  on  a “Pic- 
turesque Greece”  and  for  an  edition  of  Shakspere. 
Like  Holbein  he  composed  a “Dance  of  Death,”  but 
returned  to  Paris  before  it  was  published,  after  about 
two  years’  stay  in  London. 

Then  followed  a period  of  illustrating  such  works 
as  Paul  et  Virginie , Les  Contes  de  Per  vault,  Les 
Chansons  de  Ber anger,  and  other  publications.  He 
contributed  also  to  a “Picturesque  Brittany,”  pub- 
lished by  Coquebert  and  it  is  probable  that  this  work 
increased  his  interest  in  French  provincial  and  rustic 
life  as  fit  subjects  for  his  pencil. 

These  earlier  years  spent  in  the  army,  and  after- 
ward at  London  and  Paris,  constantly  employed  in 


7 


sketching  and  illustrating,  developed  in  Jacque  a wide 
knowledge  of  the  world,  besides  giving  him  a facility 
in  sketching  and  the  use  of  line  so  essential  to  etching. 
It  is  an  interesting  comparison  to  note  that  Whistler 
began  life  as  soldier-in-the-making  at  West  Point,  and 
also  engraved  maps  for  the  coast  survey  at  Washing- 
ton, while  the  earlier  sketches  of  both  men  were  of 
military  subjects.  The  romantic  movement  of  1830 
in  France  brought  with  it  a renewed  admiration  foi 
Rembrandt  and  the  Dutch  painters  who  were  masters 
of  etching.  Jacque  turned  to  these  for  guidance  and 
study  as  much  by  temperamental  sympathy  as  from 
an  inborn  dislike  for  the  formal  and  academic  in  art. 
His  first  essays  with  the  needle  after  Rembrandt  were 
followed  by  further  copies  and  analysis  of  the  works 
of  Van  Ostade,  Hobbema,  and  Du  Jardin  as  well  as  of 
the  great  Spanish  naturalistic  painter  and  etcher 
Ribera.  He  trained  himself  in  the  use  of  the  point 
and  mordants  on  copper,  so  that  when  his  taste  for 
rustic  subjects  fully  declared  itself,  he  was  perhaps 
the  most  accomplished  eau-fortiste  in  France. 

His  earlier  plates  were  usually  of  small  dimensions 
such  as  could  be  carried  in  the  pocket,  and  among 
them  are  some  so  small  that  a strong  magnifier  is 
needed  to  appreciate  their  delicate  detail.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  now  and  then  did  a large  plate,  such 
as  “Les  Chanteurs,  ” where  the  stroke  is  strong  and 
bold. 

A few  plates  were  done  at  Montmartre,  but  in  most 
of  them  he  seems  to  have  sought  far-away  corners  in 
Burgundy  and  the  provinces,  where  the  architecture 
and  the  people  were  beyond  the  effect  of  Parisian  and 
city  influences. 


8 


9 


Troupeau  de  Porcs.  (Guiffrey  No.  85) 
Size  of  the  original  etching,  5%  X 8*4  inches 


10 


Paysage;  Maison  de  Paysans.  (Guiffrey  No.  80) 
Size  of  the  original  etching,  4 X 6%  inches 


Well  equipped  technically,  he  depicted  the  life  of 
the  countryside  in  all  its  antique  charm,  and  during 
the  early  “forties”  produced  a number  of  masterly 
plates  that  betray  in  every  line  the  deep  interest 
Jacque  felt  in  such  picturesque  subjects  as  he  dis- 
covered on  the  farms,  or  about  the  cottages  and  court- 
yards, with  their  timbered  walls  and  rustic  inhabi- 
tants. His  etchings  of  this  period  seem  to  take  us 
back  to  an  age  when  railways  and  automobiles  were 
unthought  of  and  to  a land  where  such  things  as 
newspapers  and  books  were  left  to  messieurs  les  cures , 
les  notaires  et  les  cliatelains. 

I still  remember  the  intense  delight  experienced 
when,  as  a student  in  the  Quartier  Latin,  I first  hap- 
pened across  some  of  these  early  proofs  done  at 
Cricey  and  thereabouts  in  1843  and  1844.  In  their 
quality  as  etchings  they  seemed  to  recall  the  best  ex- 
amples of  the  seventeenth-century  masters,  while  their 
subjects,  by  some  subtle  charm  of  composition  and 
treatment,  seemed  to  evoke  the  rural  life  of  Old 
France  in  its  most  intimate  and  romantic  aspects. 

Concentrating  his  attention  on  the  development  of 
etching,  Jacque  undoubtedly  rediscovered  many  for- 
gotten processes,  and  became  so  adept  in  their  use 
that  he  in  a sense  revived  the  art,  and  brought  it 
again  to  the  attention  of  painters  as  a means  for  work- 
ing directly  from  nature  or  for  translating  their  ideas 
into  estampes.  For  this  purpose  nothing  else  can 
compare  with  etching,  unless  we  except  lithography, 
which  has  virtues  of  its  own,  but  is  less  keenly  precise 
in  its  results,  as  far  as  line  is  concerned,  than  those 
obtained  by  the  needle-point  on  metal.  I remember  a 
morning  spent  with  Whistler  at  his  house  on  the  rue 

11 


du  Bac  at  Paris,  when  he  opened  his  portfolios  and 
entered  into  a discussion  on  the  relative  merits  of 
etching  and  lithography,  both  of  which  he  so  well 
understood.  “With  the  crayon  gras,”  said  Whistler, 
“a  soft  quality  of  touch  and  tone  is  possible  which  is 
the  special  charm  of  lithography;  the  relations  of  the 
crayon  and  the  stone  can  produce  a certain  velvety 
effect  in  passing  from  the  tenderest  lights  to  the  deep- 
est blacks  which  is  the  peculiar  advantage  of  the  art, 
but  when  I work  with  a needle-point  on  copper,  I feel 
that  I am  able  to  produce  something  akin  to  a fine 
lace  of  the  utmost  delicacy  of  detail !”  It  is  impos- 
sible here  to  punctuate  Whistler’s  words  with  the  ex- 
pressive movements  of  his  head  and  hands,  or  to  take 
up  as  he  did  examples  from  his  portfolios  to  prove  his 
statements,  but  it  is  certain  that  each  art  has  its  own 
possibilities  and  limits.  We  can  see,  too,  that  many 
of  Jacque’s  most  beautiful  plates  could  not  have  been 
produced  with  any  other  tool  than  the  etching-point, 
either  used  “dry”  or  subsequently  “bitten  in.” 

Lithography,  invented  by  Senefelder  in  1795,  be- 
came “all  the  rage”  with  artists  early  in  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Jacque  also  did  a number  of  litho- 
graphs, but  felt  that  etching  was  more  in  accord  with 
his  temperament  and  the  subjects  he  wished  to  treat, 
so  without  further  regard  for  the  prevailing  fashion 
he  set  to  work  to  perfect  and  revive  the  more  ancient 
art. 

He  must  therefore  be  considered  as  a pioneer  of  the 
renaissance  of  etching  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and 
if  others  in  France  and  elsewhere  down  to  our  own 
time  have  practised  the  art  so  effectively,  it  is  largely 
due  to  Jacque’s  masterly  initiative. 

12 


13 


Paysage;  Orage.  (Guiperey  No.  248  b) 
Size  of  the  original,  6%  X 8%  inches 


14 


L’Arrivee  au  Cbamp.  (Guiffrey  No.  183.) 
Size  of  the  original  etching,  3%  X 7%  inches 


Up  to  1848  he  liad  completed  some  three  hundred 
etchings  and  dry-points,  and  as  he  advanced,  figures 
and  animals  became  more  and  more  the  important 
motives  of  his  compositions.  His  skill  in  depicting 
that  useful  and  picturesque  animal  the  pig  was  so 
great  that  he  was  called  “le  Raphael  des  cochons,” 
and  certainly  no  artist  before  or  since  has  created 
such  masterpieces  from  these  ever-hungry  quadru- 
peds. Among  many  good  plates  Charles  Blanc, 
Guiffrey,  and  Beraldi  have  considered  the  Pay  sage: 
troupeau  de  pores  as  Jacque’s  chef-d’oeuvre.  It  is  of 
modest  size,  but  the  landscape  with  its  leafless  trees  is 
full  of  air,  and  the  sense  of  life  and  movement,  as  well 
as  the  effective  composition  of  the  active  “rooters” 
accompanied  by  their  herdsman,  is  from  many  points 
of  view  unexcelled. 

Jacque  soon  began  to  make  sheep  and  poultry  an 
important  part  of  his  compositions.  In  11  Petits,  Pe- 
tits!”  some  children  are  feeding  chickens  and  Pas- 
torale is  an  exquisite  etching;  of  which  the  composi- 
tion in  sunlight  and  shadow,  as  well  as  the  delicate 
drawing  of  the  figures  and  sheep,  are  replete  with 
life  and  poetic  suggestion;  it  is  technically  perfect, 
and  a number  of  exquisitely  finished  plates  belong  to 
this  series.  The  very  plenitude  of  Jacque’s  oeuvre,— 
’t  is  said  to  comprise  some  five  hundred  examples,— has 
possibly  lessened  the  appreciation  of  those  collectors 
who  make  rarity  rather  than  quality  their  objective, 
yet  it  is  doubtful  whether  an  absolutely  complete  col- 
lection of  Jacque’s  etchings  in  the  best  states  could 
now  be  made,  for  of  some  plates  only  one  or  two  proofs 
were  taken,  and  the  few  impressions  of  others  would 
be  exceedingly  difficult  to  find. 


15 


As  time  advances,  their  true  merit  will  be  better 
understood.  Few  of  the  nineteenth-century  etchers 
are  more  worthy  of  a place  among  the  classical  mas- 
ters of  the  art ; hut  to  judge  Jacque  rightly  we  must 
see  the  proofs  printed  by  himself  or  under  his  direc- 
tion, as  a certain  number  of  the  earlier  plates  were 
printed  from  by  publishers  beyond  the  artist’s  control. 

As  I have  heard  some  people  attribute  Jacque ’s  de- 
votion to  rustic  art  to  the  influence  of  Millet,  it  may 
be  well  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  many  of  his 
earlier  plates,  possibly  some  hundreds,  were  executed 
years  before  he  met  the  great  Norman  painter.  At 
the  time  Jacque  was  occupied  with  them  Millet  was 
doing  his  mythological  nudes,  and  other  subjects  a la 
Boucher  and  Watteau,  of  which  the  production  was 
dictated  by  sheer  necessity.  The  two  masters  met  in 
1848  introduced  by  Campredon,  about  which  Jacque 
wrote  a letter  in  1891,  acknowledging  his  apprecia- 
tion of  Millet’s  great  powers.  It  was  fitting  that  they 
should  meet,  and  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
Jacque ’s  etchings  and  studies  of  country  life,  added  to 
his  advice,  may  have  strengthened  Millet’s  deter- 
mination, at  this  period,  to  devote  himself  wholly  to 
rustic  subjects. 

Jacque ’s  point  of  view  tended  toward  the  incidental 
and  anecdotic,  while  Millet’s  art  was  always  more 
subjective  in  character.  The  massive  and  statuesque 
composition  of  Millet’s  pictures  affected  many  artists 
who  saw  them,  Rousseau  included,  and  no  doubt 
Jacque  was  influenced  in  this  regard.  But  taken  all 
in  all,  it  is  probable  that  the  acquaintance  of  the  two 
masters  was  mutually  beneficial.  It  was  through 
Jacque  too  that  Millet  found  Barbizon,  and  by  their 

16 


Une  Ferme.  (Guiffrey  No.  189) 

Size  of  the  original  etching,  514  X 6 % inches 


Bergerie.  (Guiffrey  No.  204) 

Size  of  the  original  etching,  414  X GY2  inches 


17 


Vaches  a l’Abreuvoir.  (Guiffrey,  Supplement,  No.  61) 
Size  of  the  original  print,  9%  X inches 


18 


permanent  settlement  in  this  hamlet  on  the  borders  of 
the  Fontainebleau  Forest,  it  gained  the  distinction  of 
naming  a whole  school  of  artists.  Rousseau  was  al- 
ready settled  there,  but  Corot  lived  mostly  at  Ville 
d’Avray,  Dupre  at  l’lsle  Adam,  and  Daubigny  at 
Auvers;  yet  these  artists  with  Diaz,  Daumier,  and 
Barye,  Troy  on  and  others  made  it  often  a common 
meeting-place  or  at  least  have  been  included  in  the 
so-called  “Barbizon  School,”  of  which  Millet  was  the 
acknowledged  chief. 

Yet  Jacque  and  Millet  stumbled  upon  the  place 
almost  by  accident.  The  revolutionary  period  of 
1849,  and  the  cholera  invasion  from  which  Jacque  had 
suffered,  decided  them  in  their  plan  to  leave  Paris, 
and  as  Millet  had  a few  hundreds  of  francs  in  hand 
received  from  the,  Minister  of  Fine  Arts  for  his  pic- 
ture The  Haymakers  he  joined  forces  with  Jacque, 
and  off  they  started  for  Fontainebleau  with  their 
families.  Jacque  said  he  had  heard  of  a place  some- 
where near  there  of  which  the  name  ended  in  ‘ 1 -zon,  ’ ’ 
though  he  could  not  remember  the  rest.  After  wan- 
dering in  the  forest  for  some  time  they  came  across  a 
woodcutter,  who  replied  to  their  inquiries  that  Barbi- 
“zon”  might  be  the  name.  Jacque ’s  enthusiasm  was 
unbounded  and  he  broke  out  with  ‘ ‘ That  ’s  the  place ; 
I told  you,  Millet,  we  should  find  the  promised  land ! ’ ’ 
They  went  to  Barbizon  with  their  families  and  soon 
settled  in  peasants’  houses, — Millet,  for  the  rest  of 
his  life, — and  both  men  here  found  the  material  and 
surroundings  their  tastes  and  art  required. 

Jacque ’s  activity  was  irrepressible,  and  soon  after 
the  settlement  at  Barbizon  he  developed  the  enterprise 
of  chicken-farming,  recording  his  experiences  in  a 


19 


book  “Le  Poulailler,  ’ ’ which  is  still  considered  a 
standard  work  on  the  subject,  and  which  he  embel- 
lished with  drawings  from  his  own  hand  that  were 
engraved  on  wood  by  Adrien  Lavieille. 

* 4 ‘ A number  of  people, ? ’ said  Jacque,  ‘ ‘ occupy  them- 

selves with  agricultural  questions  as  well  as  in  ac- 
climatizing useful  plants  and  animals,  and  make 
experiments,  in  keeping  with  their  resources  and 
knowledge.  But  a veritable  fashion  from  which  no 
one  can  escape  is  the  raising  of  chickens.  It  is  so 
amusing,  and  the  pleasure  so  direct,  the  egg  that  the 
child  goes  to  find  in  the  hen-house  is  so  fresh,  and  the 
hen  that  has  laid  it  so  tame,  and  comes  so  prettily  to 
the  doorstep  to  take  the  bread-crumbs  that  the  mis- 
tress of  the  house  offers  from  her  hand : the  cock  is  so 
handsome,  so  majestic,  so  careful  of  his  hens,  and  by 
the  side  of  the  enormous  Brahma  the  silvered  Bantam 
is  so  deliciously  coquettish,  his  forms  are  ravishing 
and  his  air  so  comic  when  he  defends  his  microscopic 
partner;  his  plumage  so  rich  and  distinguished, — 
that  the  care  given  to  the  installation  of  these  charm- 
ing birds  makes  time  pass  so  rapidly  that  we  forget 
the  troubles  of  existence.  7 ’ After  reading  this  we  can 
understand  a critic  of  the  time  who  wrote  of  Jacque ’s 
work  and  tastes : 1 ‘ Troyon  has  been  the  most  powerful 
animal  painter  of  our  time,  but  Jacque  will  remain 
the  most  spirituel.  Pigs,  sheep,  dogs,  horses,— every- 
thing succeeds  with  him.  And  chickens ! how  well  he 
knows  them ! how  he  talks  about  them ! He  is  at  the 
same  time  their  Buffon  and  their  Homer ! ’ ’ 

Jacque  loved  to  mystify  and  surprise  the  peasants, 
especially  when  their  intense  love  of  money  was 
brought  into  play.  A certain  piece  of  land  near  the 

20 


21 


La  Vachere.  (Guiffrey,  Supplement,  No.  66) 
Size  of  the  original  dry-point,  8%  X 6%  inches 


22 


Forest,  called  “Le  Platio,”  was  up  for  sale,  and  the 
notary  had  called  together  all  the  village  worthies  and 
unworthies  for  the  auction  at  the  town  hall.  “Mes- 
sieurs, ’ ’ said  he,  ‘ ‘ the  upset  price  of  this  fine  piece  of 
land  is  eight  hundred  francs ; have  I an  offer  ? ’ ’ After 
much  hesitation  and  lowering  of  figures,  an  hour’s 
work  had  only  brought  the  price  up  franc  by  franc 
to  a hundred  and  sixty -three  francs,  where  it  stuck 
fast.  Then  Jacque  came  in,  and  hearing  the  last  bid 
shouted  out,  ‘ ‘ Fifteen  hundred  francs ! ’ ’ The  effect 
was  terrible;  the  peasants  fell  back  stupefied  and  it 
almost  required  a doctor  to  restore  some  of  them  to 
their  normal  condition.  Jacque  knew  the  value  of  the 
land  and  enjoyed  giving  them  a lesson  in  promptness. 
Some  of  his  pranks  and  enterprises  almost  startled 
Millet,  whose  sober  peasant  nature  somewhat  resented 
such  rapid  changes  and  novelties. 

One  of  Jacque ’s  peculiarities  was  an  intense  fear  of 
catching  cold.  ‘ 1 Charivari  ’ ’ published  a sketch  in  1866 
commenting  on  the  artist’s  habit  of  going  about  muf- 
fled up  both  in  summer  and  winter,  adding,  “Some 
Well-informed  persons  assure  us  that  the  artist  is  a 
blond,  and  that  his  very  regular  features  are  perfectly 
disposed  for  the  pleasure  of  the  eye;  but  these  are 
merely  rumors  impossible  to  verify,  as  this  Touareg  of 
art  has  never  shown  himself  with  his  face  uncovered.  ’ ’ 
It  was  this  sensitiveness  to  cold  that  caused  Jacque  to 
spend  many  winters  at  Pau,  though  he  always  en- 
joyed travel  and  change  of  scene. 

Occupied  with  his  drawings  and  etchings  he  did  not 
take  up  painting  till  about  1845,  but  treating  similar 
subjects  he  soon  found  appreciation  among  collectors. 
Although  he  had  exhibited  etchings  at  the  salon  of 

23 


24 


Troupeau  de  Porcs 

Size  of  the  original  etching,  6 X 9%  inches 


25 


La  Bergerie 

Size  of  the  original  etching,  1 1 % X 17%  inches 


La  Bergerie  Bearnaise.  (Guiffrey,  Supplement,  No.  246) 
Size  of  the  original  etching,  17%  X 14%  inches 


26 


1851,  he  did  not  show  any  paintings  there  till  1861, 
when  one  of  his  subjects  was  the  large  sheep  picture 
so  long  admired  at  the  Luxembourg  Museum,  thus 
making  his  debut  with  a masterpiece.  He  also  exhib- 
ited at  the  salons  of  1863  and  1864,  while  to  the  Uni- 
versal Exhibition  of  1867  he  sent  three  frames  of 
prints. 

For  these  seven  exhibits  he  received  successively 
seven  third-class  medals,  so  that  his  friend  Jules  Cla- 
retie,  commenting  on  the  fact  later  on,  remarked : 1 ‘ In 
this  he  is  unique,  as  the  only  painter  or  engraver  who 
has  seven  third-class  medals ! But  he  can  make  light 
of  official  recompenses.  He  is  superior  to  the  highest 
fact  noticeable  in  these  days,  when  medals  and  crosses 
rain  on  mediocrities.” 

He  however  received  the  red  ribbon  of  the  Legion 
of  Honor,  owing  to  the  initiative  of  Monsieur  de  Nieu- 
werkerke,  just  after  the  Universal  Exhibition  of  1867. 
His  name  did  not  appear  in  the  official  list  of  recom- 
penses and  his  decoration  came  forty-eight  hours  later 
than  their  distribution;  upon  which  Jacque remarked : 
“My  subversive  ideas  kept  me  from  the  altar.  They 
made  me  commune  apart ! ’ ’ But  in  1889,  after  twen- 
ty-two years’  absence,  he  again  exhibited  at  the  salon 
as  well  as  at  the  Universal  Exposition  of  the  same 
year,  where  he  was  awarded  the  Grand  Prize  for 
original  etching  and  a gold  medal  for  his  paintings. 
This  was  tardy  justice,  but  it  greatly  pleased  the 
veteran  artist,  then  in  his  seventy-seventh  year,  and 
in  a letter  to  a friend  he  wrote:  “I  withheld  my 
works  from  the  exhibitions  for  some  twenty  years, 
and  my  success  now  surpasses  my  hopes.  I have  been 
admirably  placed,  and  I have  obtained  the  grand 


27 


prize  for  original  etching  as  well  as  a gold  medal  for 
my  painting.  It  might  he  added,  that  I owe  this  to 
the  spirit  of  justice  in  my  fellow-artists  of  the  differ- 
ent juries,  whom  I never  solicited  in  any  way  either 
by  word  or  letter.  ’ ’ The  superb  etching  which  gained 
for  Jacque  the  Medal  of  Honor  was  “La  Bergerie 
Bearnaise.” 

In  1891  a collective  exhibit  of  his  works  was  made 
at  the  Durand-Ruel  galleries  in  Paris,  which  met  with 
great  success,  and  three  years  later,  after  more  than 
sixty  years’  steady  toil  at  his  beloved  art,  he  died,  in 
May,  1894,  the  last  of  the  great  Barbizon  men  to  dis- 
appear. His  later  paintings  and  etchings  were  prin- 
cipally of  sheep  and  shepherds  in  which  genre  his 
success  was  so  universally  confirmed.  Several  of  his 
largest  and  most  important  plates,  such  as  L’ Or  age, 
La  Pastorale,  Le  Chdtaignier  and  L’Abreuvoir,  belong 
to  this  later  period,  and  in  the  treatment  of  these  he 
sustained  the  high  opinion  expressed  by  that  master 
of  art  criticism  Charles  Blanc  many  years  before  in 
regard  to  his  earlier  work. 

“That  which  distinguishes  him  is  the  penetrating 
poetry  of  his  landscapes,  the  intimate  charm  of  his 
farms,  of  his  tavern  scenes,  of  his  portrayals  of  peas- 
ant life.  By  these  he  represents  and  sums  up  in  his 
little  etchings  all  our  modern  school  of  landscapists 
and  familiar  painters,  from  Decamps  to  Jean-Francois 
Millet  and  Adolphe  Leleux,  from  Jules  Dupre  and 
Rousseau  to  Daubigny.” 

Jacque  lived  some  thirty-three  years  after  these 
lines  were  written,  and  saw  his  Barbizon  friends  pass 
away  one  after  the  other.  He  saw  new  men  and  new 
ideas  replace  the  old  romantics  who  in  their  turn  be- 


28 


came  the  classics  of  the  French  School.  But  the  new. 
fashions  of  plein-air  and  impressionism  had  little  ef- 
fect on  the  veteran  whose  practice  was  based  upon 
principles  that  underlie  the  world’s  best  art,  in  all 
places,  and  at  all  times. 


Paysage.  (Guiffrey  No.  28) 


29 


;• 


4’ 


